Lions sign C Dominic Raiola to extension

The Detroit Lions signed center Dominic Raiola to a four-year contract extension that will keep him with the team through the 2013 season, the team announced Thursday.

Additional terms of Raiola’s contract were not disclosed.

Raiola, 6-1, 295, enters his ninth season with the Lions and has been the team’s starting center since 2002. Prior to a hand injury that forced him to miss his first career game and start vs. Jacksonville on Nov. 9, he had played in every game for the Lions since being drafted in the second round (50th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft.

Raiola had made 104 consecutive starts at center since the beginning of the 2002 season. Among centers in the league since 2001, he had the second-most consecutive starts (104) behind Denver center Casey Wiegman (112) and Atlanta center Todd McClure (112) at the time of his injury.